This invention relates to a cap and container combination for containing medicine and the like.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,718, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, I have disclosed and claimed my invention of a cap adapted to cooperate with a conventional container to provide a precautionary arrangement and to be converted to provide an alternative easy open arrangement.
I have also filed application Ser. No. 924,612, filed July 14, 1978, and entitled "CAP AND CONTAINER IN COMBINATION WITH APPARATUS FOR CONVERTIBLY PROVIDING PRECAUTIONARY AND EASY OPEN ARRANGEMENTS," the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Such a precautionary arrangement is characterized by a locking of the cap on the container such that a complex manipulation is required to remove the cap from the container. By making it necessary to perform such a complex manipulation in order to remove the cap from the container, an advantage arises with respect to preventing children from gaining access to the medicine and the like in the container. Although such a precautionary arrangement is advantageous in circumstances where a need for safety exists, it constitutes a nuisance in other circumstances. For example, many elderly people never have small children in their homes. Moreover, such older people may be lacking in manual dexterity and accordingly find it difficult and sometimes impossible to unlock the cap from the container so that they can take the medicine they need. Separately, pharmacists who dispense the medicine fill many containers during a working day and are continually removing and replacing the caps. Owing to the complex manipulations involved in locking and unlocking, done repeatedly, the pharmacists suffer discomfort and irritation to their hands.